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ARTICLE · 14 AUGUST 2019

Federal Circuit Agrees Genotyping Method Is Not Eligible For Patenting

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In Genetic Veterinary Sciences, Inc. v. Laboklin GMBH & Co., the Federal Circuit upheld the district court decision that held claims directed to methods for genotyping a Labrador Retriever

United StatesIntellectual Property
Courtenay Brinckerhoff
Courtenay Brinckerhoff
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In Genetic Veterinary Sciences, Inc. v. Laboklin GMBH& Co., the Federal Circuit upheld the district court decision that held claims directed to methods for genotyping a Labrador Retriever invalid under 35 USC § 101 at the JMOL stage. Sadly, the court’s discussion of personal jurisdiction issues may be more interesting than the all-to familiar explanation of why diagnostic methods are not eligible for patenting under the Supreme Court’s Alice/Mayo framework.

The Patent At Issue 

The patent at issue was U.S. Patent No. 9,157,114, entitled “Method of determining the genotype relating to hereditary nasal parakeratosis (HNPK) and nucleic acids usable in said method.” The Federal Circuit considered claims 1-3:

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